"This is awesome," Zetterberg said. "What the Wings are doing with Warrior and the league, especially this month with Hockey is for Everyone, meeting these guys, to have them come down here to watch a practice and to see them pick out their own sticks and see them skating around, flying around here right now, it's awesome for the players to be part of it."
Hockey is for Everyone is an initiative to support diversity and inclusion in hockey.
"We started about 10 years ago out of Fraser and we have kids from the Learn to Skate program to kids who can actually skate very well," Stars coach Rich Koch said. "We have 85 kids in the program now, started with seven. The kids love it, the parents and coaches love it, we have a lot of volunteers."
With such an eclectic group of players (ages range from 8 to 45 years old), Koch says it's not about wins or losses, it's about the opportunity to play and be just a hockey player, despite the challenges each player faces daily.
"They all have special needs," Koch said. "Some have Down syndrome, we have kids that have autism, Asperger's, a wide spectrum of needs.
"It's pretty cool watching them skate because it's not easy to skate. These kids, they've learned a lot, they've come a long way. It's fun."
Besides the players, there was another group's reaction that Koch really enjoyed seeing.
"This means a lot not only to the players, but to the parents as well," Koch said. "We take them on trips every year, we try and expose them to what mainstream kids are able do.
"They just want to feel they're part of a program, part of something because they are different and they know they are different."
From the players' reactions, you would be hard pressed to notice any difference. Perhaps that's the effect of camaraderie with the Red Wings.
"It was very nice," Nick Gulch said. "I like the Red Wings a lot more now!"
Gulch, from Toledo, is an avid supporter of the Wings' ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Walleye. His favorite Red Wings player is former Walleye forward Martin Frk because he and Frk both have blistering slap shots.
Another Stars player, Leeann Winner, could barely contain her emotions when she was relating what the day meant to her.
"It was so cool," she said. "We were able to play here a few months ago, but to see the Wings and everything. They promote everyone can skate even with a disability or anything, it was really cool. It felt like their whole team (greeted us) it was so crazy."
"For them to support us and donate it (equipment) to us or to any team is just amazing."
This is the second straight year Michigan-based Warrior Hockey has made such a generous donation, a practice which will continue into the foreseeable future.
"This is something we look forward to every year," said Keith Perera, Warrior brand manager. "The Red Wings have come to us because we are local and we have a partnership with the Red Wings. They brought the need to us. We jumped on it.
"This year is even bigger than last year. It definitely goes back to the spirit of New Balance (Warrior's parent company) and our founders and our owners, the Davis family.
"We have a program called NB Gives Back. So, we're really pushed and encouraged to give back to the community in a certain way and for us this is perfect, because it helps grow the sport of hockey."
Perera woke up at 3 a.m. because this is a day he looks forward to also.
"Last year for me it was very emotional because we had a lot parents in there (the locker room)," said Perera. "To see the (parents') faces, for them to see the faces of the players that they love. It's awesome, it's an awesome feeling for me."
